


Bedside Manners

by TintagelCastle



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, Hux is a demanding brat, Illness, M/M, Ren is dramatic, Sickfic, Stupid Boys being Stupid, as close to fluffy as I can manage, author is talking crap as usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 19:52:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6022684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TintagelCastle/pseuds/TintagelCastle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux is sick. He's tired and Kylo Ren <em>won't leave him alone.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Bedside Manners

**Author's Note:**

> This is so stupid I'm so sorry. 
> 
> I've given Hux the first name 'Cináed' which is Irish for "Born of Fire", because I'm pretentious like that. From what I've gathered, it's pronounced something close to 'Kinn-aye' and became Anglicized to 'Kenneth'.  
> So there we go, Kenny Hux.

It took forty-seven hours, seventeen minutes and twenty-three seconds of coughing, light-headedness and all round undignified sniffling for General Cináed Hux to admit he was ill. 

Rubbing absently at his temples he stared at the seemingly ceaseless list of names and numbers that flashed on his ComScreen, their meanings slipping past as his head felt fuzzier by the minute. Still, he could manage. His entire family had a mentality that essentially boiled down to _‘Are you bleeding? No? You’re fine, suck it up.’_ , and with a base as large as this one, there was always _something_ that required his attention.

So, suck it up he would. He’d take an anti-nausea pill when he next got the chance or something. What he _really_ wanted to do was sleep, but Hux had learned from experience that sleeping on the job would only cause all sorts of irritating problems, namely someone complaining that Lord Ren had taken his ire out on some unsuspecting piece of machinery again. Did that man even realise just _how_ many maintenance bills he’d racked up?! 

Hux sighed and pushed the ComScreen away from him with a weak push, feeling a horrible cough thunder up through his chest. The noise sounded harsh and somehow wet in the relative silence of his office, shattering the bizarre peace of the ship’s background mechanical hum. Hux flinched at just how bad it sounded, and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. His head hurt terribly……

Nobody would know if he just rested his eyes for a moment….

The doors to his office slid open without ceremony, jolting Hux from his thoughts. The heavy thud of boots entered as Hux turned to see none other than Kylo _Fucking_ Ren stride uninvited into his office. Bloody great bastard. 

Ren stood imperiously in the doorway for a few moments, the mask obscuring his face but no doubt giving Hux some form of contemptuous sneer. Hux inwardly groaned, he honestly couldn’t be bothered to get involved in whatever pissing contest Ren was about to start-

“You’re not well General.”

Hux blinked. Became confused. Then got annoyed. Not only was Ren barging into Hux’s private office completely unasked for, he was also pointing out things Hux was _very_ aware of, thank you very much. He opened his mouth, ready to be thoroughly rude, of all the _pointless_ …..

Whatever blunt retort he’d been building in his brain abated when Ren closed the door behind him and came a little further into the room, an odd exhale – distorted by his voice modulator- seemed to escape him.

“I...I heard you coughing from down the corridor.” Ren explained, sounding a little less acerbic than usual.

When Hux didn’t reply, he unhelpfully added: “It sounded bad.”

“Nice to know your hearing works.” Hux rasped, valiantly ignoring how weak and insubstantial his voice sounded. “And yet when I ask you to not do something, it mysteriously disappears.” 

“No need to be rude General, I was merely making an observation.”

“Well go observe it somewhere else. I’m _busy_.” 

Hux turned away from Ren then, pulling his ComScreen back towards him with renewed determination. Catching his reflection in the metal edges he winced. His skin was paler than usual and had a queasy sheen to it, which set his bright red nose and dark under eye circles of marvellously well. Brilliant.

A flash of embarrassment flickered through his mind about having Ren see him in a less than organised state, but he quickly quashed it. Fuck it; people got sick all the time, just because he was the General didn’t make it a monumental event. Granted, he would have liked a little goddamn privacy as he snuffled his way through the night but apparently the powers that be weren’t going to let him off that lightly. Ren, he noticed, didn’t make a move to leave.

“Is there something you need, Lord Ren?” He asked tightly, gritting his teeth slightly as another wave of pain pulsed through his head. Ren stood a little straighter, taking a few more steps towards Hux.

“You’re not well.”

“ _Stars above_ Ren! I _know_!”

“I only meant-” 

“Are you actually here for a reason? Is there some dire emergency that needs my immediate attention? Have you fucked up a perfectly good console again?" 

“General…” 

“Can’t you just give me peace for _one_ night? I-”

It was at this point Hux’s own lungs interrupted him as another explosive cough overcame him, practically folding him in half as he hacked up what felt like half his own chest. His hands clamped over his mouth to try and contain the noises and he half turned away because damn if he was going to allow Ren to witness this moment of complete indignity. He felt too hot and yet weirdly cold at the same time. His limbs felt completely frail and his own body shook with the effort of breathing. A thought struck him; maybe Ren was only here because he was _enjoying_ this. The git. He was having a right old time wasn’t he? Laughing to himself behind that mask whilst Hux was getting murdered by microbes…. 

“Do stop panicking General. I can feel your headache from here. Trust me, I’m not enjoying it.” 

Suddenly Ren seemed to be a lot closer to Hux than Hux remembered him being. When did he get so close? Hux stiffened and ran a hand through his hair, his coughs and splutters finally easing away. 

“Then why are you here?” He snapped. Ren shrugged mulishly. 

“I came to help.” 

He was joking. _Had_ to be. Help? Kylo Ren never helped anyone when it didn’t serve his own interest… 

“For fuck’s sake Hux.” Ren barked, pushing Hux’s ComScreen back again whilst looming like a particularly annoying shadow, his voice tinged with barely concealed anger. “You’re sat down and still swaying in your seat. You can’t focus and frankly you look like shit.” He then placed a hand on Hux’s shoulder, far more gently than Hux was even cpable of thinking about at the moment. “Do you want my help or not?” 

“Don’t need your help.” Hux retorted, shaking Ren’s hand off him roughly. “Stay out of my head.” 

Ren tutted. “Your head’s a mess at the moment General, I’m getting oddly motion sick looking at it.” 

“Good.” 

A sound issued from Ren’s mask that, if Hux were paying more attention, would have sounded like a sigh. Hux ignored him and began to rise from his chair: 

“Thank you for the concern Lord Ren, but I assure you I’m fine,” He said, attempting to gather up the papers he’d neglected to look through, pointedly not looking at Ren. “Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do.” 

He moved too fast. Turning to step around his desk Hux felt his strength quickly abandoning him as his vision swan alarmingly. Shadows rushed across his sight and Hux was powerless to prevent his own legs from crumpling underneath him. 

_I’m gonna hit my head on the desk. In front of Ren. Of course I am….this is going to hurt._

Except…he didn’t. Something warm and solid was wrapped securely around his chest, keeping him somewhat upright. 

“I see. You’re absolutely fine.” Came Ren’s mocking voice near his ear, far too close to be anything remotely like professional. “Quite capable of working.” 

“Fuck off.” Hux tried to snarl, but it came out as more of a whimper than anything. Blinking hard, he focused on the fact it was Ren’s _arm_ clamped around his chest. Not punishingly tight, just…enough to keep him from flopping to the floor. He became increasingly aware that Ren’s entire body was plastered to his back, then became _uncomfortably_ aware that he was leaning into Ren’s surprisingly broad chest. 

He was _horribly_ aware that it wasn’t completely disagreeable. 

“You…you can let me go now.” He squeaked. 

Ren did, and Hux hated the fact he missed the weight and warmth as soon as it was gone. He made no attempt to move straightaway, and realised Ren hadn’t moved as far as he’d thought, but was, essentially, hovering behind him. 

“Alright.” Hux said, mostly to himself but partially to Ren. _Try again._

_Was the room spinning or was he just swaying?_

He took a few steps, and then felt that horrible lurching sensation again. Gravity yanked him downwards even as he tried to keep himself up. His vision really did darken, and he prayed to any deity that was listening that he wasn’t swooning. 

Apparently he was. Ren sprung forward again and wrapped that _nice_ solid arm around him again, the knight stooping slightly to swing his other arm down and under Hux’s knees. The world tilted nauseatingly as Hux somehow found himself being lifted. When his vision cleared again he frowned. 

“-R’you carrying me?” 

“Yes.” Came the blunt reply. Hux blinked furiously even as he allowed his head to lean into Ren’s shoulder. 

_“Lemme go.”_

He tried to sound authoritative, he really did. But his voice wouldn’t obey his commands, sounding soft and weak like a petulant child. Somewhere, Ren huffed with amusement. 

“You don’t sound very sure, General.” 

Hux weakly thumped the knight with a lax hand. “’M’not a child, put me down.” 

“You’re not actually my superior, I don’t have to obey you.” Ren was saying, modulated voice practically vibrating with amusement. “So, no, General. I’ll not put you down until I’m sure you’ll be alright.” 

“Course I’m alright, Ren!” Hux knew he sounded like an infant now, but couldn’t quite bring himself to care. Ren should put him down, instead of carrying him like some kind of doll. Though, if Hux were a more indulgent kind of man, he would have admitted it to himself that it was actually rather comfortable in Ren’s arms…. 

But Hux was not an indulgent man. Right this instant he was a pissed off, sniffly man. 

When Hux noticed Ren had taken a different corridor than the one they should take to the MedBay, he piped up again; 

“MedBay’s that way." 

“I know General.” Ren shot back impatiently. “I’m taking you to your quarters.” 

“But-” _That’s three floors way…._

“Shut up for once, I’ll get you some meds when you’re settled.” 

Hux kicked weakly, ignoring Ren’s unimpressed head tilt. Fine, let Ren have his way, Hux couldn’t be bothered to try and _really_ fight him right now. His eyelids began to droop against his will, barely obeying him when he fought to keep them open. 

It could have been hours or minutes before Hux began to focus again, the slight hiss of his door sliding open for Ren to slip them both inside. The coolness of his room was comforting in its familiarity and Ren strode towards the bed to set Hux down. Hux would have questioned how exactly Ren knew the layout of his quarters so well if he hadn’t noticed just how gentle Ren had put him down, like Hux would break if put Ren had put him down without the upmost care. He’d never know Ren to be gentle with anything. 

Ren must have been reading his mind, despite being told not to, because he heaved a put-upon sigh again. 

“I wasn’t going to just _drop_ you Hux, get over yourself.” 

Hux couldn’t make his voice work as strongly as he wanted it to, so he settled for a hand gesture instead. Ren shook his head in exasperation, raising his hands to unlatch his mask to expose his face. 

Hux had seen Ren’s face before, briefly. At the time he’d wondered why the knight had even bothered with it, having no disfigurements or horrendous features to speak of. But after a while he’d realised why: Ren had such a soft, open face. It never concealed anything, every passing emotion flitting over that countenance and through those dark eyes to be read as easily as a scholar reads their books. The mask would hide that. 

That open face was regarding him solemnly now; eyes tight with concern as Hux began to cough again, curling in on himself on the bed. The blanket began to slowly pull itself over Hux despite the fact neither of them were touching it. Bloody Force users, always rearranging their surroundings. 

“I need to go get some meds for you.” Ren was saying, busying himself with filling a glass with water from Hux’s little kitchenette behind a partition. Returning to the bed he placed the glass on the nightstand. 

“Wait,” Hux croaked. 

Ren frowned, and Hux cleared his throat, suddenly unsure _why_ he just told the man to stay when he was so desperate to get rid of him a while ago. “I…” 

Ren’s eyebrows rose in surprise, “Do you want me to stay, General?” 

“No.” 

“Do you want me to go?” 

Hux frowned. “….no.” 

Ren tilted his head again, his eyes scanning Hux’s prone form on the bed. “…Alright.” 

The bed dipped slightly as Ren sat down on the edge. Hux opened his mouth because he was pretty sure Ren shouldn’t do that, but found he couldn’t make any sort of coherent sound. The pain in his head still throbbed unpleasantly, but he no longer felt like his skull was going to cave in on him. He became vaguely aware of his body shivering, in spite of the warm blanket now tucked securely around him. He felt so heavy. 

“You still need some meds.” Came Ren’s voice a short time later. Some part of Hux decided he quite liked the natural timbre of Ren’s voice, without that stupid can masking it. 

“Mm.” he said by way of a reply. 

“I’m going to get some for you.” Ren continued, the bed dipping once more as he stood. 

“Mm.” Hux hummed again, the lull of sleep beginning to get too powerful for Hux to fight. He felt his mind sliding downward into a comfortable darkness. 

“Stay there.” Ren added unnecessarily, his voice soft. 

“Mm.” 

He wasn’t sure exactly when the knight eventually left. Surely it wasn’t long before Hux was left in peace, dreaming of ghostly fingers carding through his hair. 

……………………………………………………………………….. 

When Hux opened his eyes, he found a small pile of brightly coloured meds by the untouched glass of water. Blinking the fog from his vision Hux catalogued them in his mind: Blue for nausea, red for mucus and congestion, green for headaches and white for sore throats. There was even a small round pink capsule Hux knew was meant to encourage sleep. Near the pile was a note written in a hasty, messy scrawl. 

_I spoke to the doctors and these are all safe to take. Take them as the instructions dictate and rest. Phasma and I will take care of business until you’ve recovered. K.R._

……………………………………………………………………………. 

It took eighty-three hours, fifty minutes and twelve seconds for General Cináed Hux to find a coughing, sniffling Kylo Ren in his office. 

The knight was without his mask, hair all over the place and his nose tinged pink. When Hux closed the door he spun around and pointed at the General accusingly. 

“You did this to me!” 

Hux snorted, “I think you’ll find microbes did it.” 

Ren flopped dramatically into the chair by the ComScreen with a noise of distress Hux would have found amusing if there wasn’t a part of him that twinged in sympathy. It turned out there had been a particularly nasty strain of flu some crewmembers had picked up on a recent excursion to a local planet that had spread pretty quickly. Of course, Ren could have picked it up from anyone, but it seemed that bothering Hux was an easier route to take than listening to logic. 

“Take some of those meds you gathered for me, they work a treat.” 

“You did this to me.” Ren repeated miserably, throwing an arm across his eyes. “I helped you and you _poisoned_ me!” 

“Oh I hardly poisoned you Ren, if I had you wouldn’t be here whining about it.” 

This earned him a furious glare from across the room. Hux sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Can’t you just, I don’t know, Force magic it away or something?” 

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that General.” 

Hux rolled his eyes and strode closer to Ren, pulling a clean handkerchief from a pocket in his greatcoat. 

“You’re getting mucus on my console.” 

Ren took the offering and blew his nose noisily. Whilst Hux grimaced in distaste, he couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that Ren had yet to fall over as clumsily as he did. It would have been incredibly uplifting, to know Ren wasn’t above fainting like other mere mortals. But Ren still walked as confidently as ever, presumably due to some sort of shenanigans with the Force, the fucker. 

“The fever passes after about thirty-six hours, you should be fine. Unless you plan on gallivanting about outside.” 

“Fuck you very much, General.” 

Hux smiled, knowing full well Ren could see him, and patted the knight’s shoulder. 

“You’ll be fine Ren, I promise.” 

Silence descended on the two of them, suddenly seeming heavy. Ren turned to look at him fully; his face just as wide and open than ever. It was a very nice face, Hux thought, all things considered. 

A small twist of a smirk pulled at Ren’s lips. “I heard that.” 

Hux let go of Ren’s shoulders like he’d been burned, stepping back. 

“What part of ‘ _Stay out of my head, you prick_ escapes you?” He demanded. 

Ren chuckled, “You’re thinking loud, nice things about me. It’s hard not to overhear.” 

Hux clenched his jaw and turned to leave. Ren could sneeze himself to death as far as Hux was concerned. What an ass, what a _child_ \- 

_“Cináed.”_

Hux stopped in his tracks, shocked at hearing his first name so casually thrown at him like that. The pronunciation was off, clumsy in Ren’s mouth. It made sense Ren had butchered it, seeing as he’d probably only seen it written down in the ship’s files, nobody had ever said it aloud on this base. 

Hux wanted to hear it again. 

He turned to see Ren walking up to him, mouth pinched in an effort not to sniff. He suddenly seemed so tall, imposing even, as he walked right into the general’s personal space. Hux jerked his chin up, affronted. 

“What are you-?” 

The rest of the question died, only to be immediately replaced with _’I’m dreaming, I’m not being kissed by Kylo Ren…oh stars above, I’m being kissed by Kylo Fucking Ren.’_

It wasn’t a particularly refined kiss, too much force and yet somehow not enough, the fingers on his chin just shy of gentle. A small voice in the back of Hux’s head wondered how much kissing Ren had gotten up to in life if this was his technique. He pushed it away as Ren drew back, leaving Hux staring at him in shock. 

After a few seconds, Ren blinked at him in confusion. “Uh…” 

“You’re going to get me sick again.” 

“Sorry.” 

“I didn’t say I’m opposed.” 

This time it was Ren’s turn to gape. Hux felt his own mouth twist into a smirk as the fearsome Knight of Ren openly gawked at him. 

Steeling his nerve, Hux continued, the words escaping him before he could stop it, “I didn’t realise that you…ah, felt. I mean, um, you?” 

Ren nodded slightly, clearly hitting the same mental blockade Hux was. “Me…I mean, I... yes. You?” 

Hux worried at his lower lip with his teeth, unable to not notice the way Ren’s eyes flickered to it. “Like I said, I’m not entirely against the idea.” 

Ren broke into what was perhaps the sunniest smile that side of the galaxy, all teeth and glittering eyes. He leaned forward to kiss Hux again but Hux neatly stepped out of his reach. 

A frown clouded Ren’s face, “I thought-" 

“You’re still sick.” Hux said, brushing imaginary lint off his lapels, “We can’t have a sick knight aboard the ship now can we? Having a sick general was bad enough.” 

“I didn’t help you for the good of the fucking ship-” 

Taking pity on him, Hux reached up to give him another kiss, resting his hands upon those shoulders as Ren eagerly brought up both hands to cup Hux’s face. 

_Fuck it._ Hux thought, giving in to Ren’s searching mouth and hands, _people get sick all the time._

**Author's Note:**

> *shows myself to the trash compacter*


End file.
